Child, Family, School, and Community Socialization and Support 6th ed.

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Child, Family, School, and CommunitySocializati
on and Support 6th ed.
Chapter FourEcology of Parenting
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Parenting

• Parenting means implementing a series of
  decisions about the socialization of ones
  children.

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Definition of Parenting

• What one does
• to enable children to become responsible,
  contributing members of society.
• when children cry, are aggressive, lie, or do
  poorly in school.

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Decisions about Parenting

• Can be confusing because
• there is little consensus as to what children
  should be like when they grow up.
• there are different opinions on what parents
  should do to enable children to become grown up.
• it is bidirectional and dynamic.

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An Ecological Model of Human Development

• Parenting is the means by which the family
  socializes children.

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Macrosystem Influences on Parenting

• Political Ideology
• Culture
• Socioeconomic Status
• Ethnicity/Religion

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Political Ideology

• Refers to theories pertaining to government
• Influences parenting styles
• children must be raised to function as citizens
  in society
• Most traditional societies subscribe to an
  aristocratic political ideology

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Political Ideology

• Autocracy
• one person has unlimited power over others
• Democracy
• those ruled have power equal to those who rule
  equality of rights

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Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Required that groups be treated equally in
  housing, education, and employment.

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Culture

• Includes
• knowledge
• beliefs
• art
• morals
• law
• customs
• traditions

acquired by members of a society
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Culture

• Encompasses
• the way people have learned how to adapt to their
  environment
• their assumptions about the way the world is
• their beliefs about the way people should act

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Culture and Parenting Goals

• LeVines universal parenting goals
• ensuring physical health and survival
• developing behavioral capacities for economic
  self-maintenance
• instilling behavioral capacities for maximizing
  cultural values such as morality, prestige, and
  achievement
• Cultures vary in the emphasis they place on
  parenting goals as well as in how they implement
  them.

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Culture, Economics, and Childrens Behavior

• Economics involves the production, distribution,
  and consumption of goods and services.
• Does the way a society governs and supports
  itself to survive relate to the way its children
  are reared?

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Whitings Socioeconomic Systems

• Simple Societies
• Roles clearly defined
• Emphasis on cooperation to survive

• Complex Societies
• Occupational specialization
• Class system
• Centralized government
• Competition emphasized

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Categories of Childrens Social Behavior

• Nurturance
• Responsibility
• Dependence
• Dominance
• Sociability
• Intimacy
• Authoritarianism
• Aggressiveness

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Whitings Conclusions

• Nurturance
• Responsibility
• Success
• Authority
• Casual intimacy
• are types of behavior that are differentially
  preferred by different cultures.
• These values are transmitted to the children
  before the age of six.

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Socioeconomic Status

• Rank or position within society based on social
  and economic factors

• High
• high income
• respected occupations
• well educated

Middle medium incomes business workers decent
education
Low low income unskilled jobs poorly educated
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Parental Occupations and Childrens Behavior

• Exosystem influencethe parents work.
• The more complex the society
• the more roles exist
• the more criteria upon which status is based
• income
• occupation
• education
• place of residence
• the more complex the task of socialization

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Middle vs. Lower Class Occupations

• Lower Class Parents
• Likely to judge their childrens behavior in
  terms of its immediate consequences and its
  external characteristics.
• Middle Class Parents
• More concerned with their childrens motives and
  the attitudes their behavior seem to express.

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Ethnicity/Religion

• Impact peoples values, perceptions, attitudes,
  and behavior.
• Ethnicity
• Identified by national origin, culture, language,
  race, or religion.
• Religion
• A unified system of beliefs and practices
  relative to sacred things.

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Group Values Categorized by Customs and
Traditions of Ethnicity and Religion

• Gemeinschaft Groups
• Communal
• Cooperative
• Intimate
• Informal

• Gesellschaft Groups
• Associative
• Practical
• Objective
• Formal

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Family Group Values Gemeinschaft vs.
Gesellschaft

• Gemeinschaft Families
• Cooperative/interdependent (collectivism).
• Emphasize interdependent relations, social
  responsibilities, and the well-being of the
  group.
• Gesellschaft Families
• Competitive/independent (individualism).
• Emphasize individual fulfillment and choice
  (standing out).

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Orientations

• Cooperative/Interdependent
• (Collective)

Competitive/Independent (Individualistic)

• Authority Roles
• Communication
• Displays of Emotion
• Discipline/Guidance of Children
• Skills Emphasis

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Chronosystem Influences on Parenting

• Significant forces isolating the family
• Occupational mobility
• Breakdown of the neighborhood
• Separation of residential from business areas
• Consolidated school districts
• Separate patterns of social life
• Delegation of child care to outside institutions
• Lack of a support system

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Historical Trends

• Pre-eighteenth century
• Children were considered significant only if they
  contributed to their elders welfare.
• Eighteenth century (Colonial America)
• Families were autocratic
• Tradition and religion influenced child-rearing
  practices
• Early childhood was viewed as a negative period
  of life during which time parents had great
  influence over their childrens social outcomes.
• The eighteenth century brought about the ideas of
  many different philosophers (advocated humanism).
• John Lockechilds mind as a blank slate (tabula
  rasa)
• Jean Rousseauchildren needed freedom to grow
• Johann Pestalozzimother as the childs first
  teacher

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• Nineteenth Century
• G. Stanley Hall influenced many contemporary
  attitudes on child development and parenting
  (individual needs and welfare of the child).
• Twentieth century
• In 1914, child-rearing literature advocating
  rigid scheduling.
• John B. Watsons theory of behaviorism, which
  involved conditioning, became popular during the
  1920s, along with Sigmund Freuds theory of
  personality development, which involved
  unconscious motives.

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• The 1940s brought a change from rigid
  scheduling Benjamin Spock advocating
  self-regulation of the child.
• The 1950s brought about an emphasis on
  childrens intellectual development. Jean
  Piagets theories on cognitive development
  (construction of knowledge) were of great
  importance to professionals working with
  children.
• The trend in parenting attitudes in the United
  States over time has swung from
  parent-centeredness to child-centeredness to more
  of a balanced approach.

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Family Dynamics

• Parenting involves a continuous process of
  reciprocal interaction that affects both parents
  and children.
• When individuals become parents, they rediscover
  some of their own experiences.
• Characteristics of children that influence family
  dynamics and parenting styles
• Age
• Temperament
• Gender
• Special needs

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Age

• As children get older, parent-child interactions
  change.
• Infancy feeding, changing, bathing, comforting
• Preschool years reasoning, instruction,
  isolation, withdrawal of privileges,
  reinforcement, rewards
• Adolescence discussion, collaborative problem
  solving, compromise

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Temperament

• The combination of innate characteristics that
  determine individuals sensitivity to various
  experiences and responsiveness to patterns of
  social interaction.
• Activity level
• Rhythmicity
• Distractibility
• Approach/withdrawal
• Adaptability
• Attention span and persistence
• Intensity of reaction
• Threshold of responsiveness
• Quality of mood

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Goodness of Fit

• The accommodation of parenting styles to
  childrens temperaments (Thomas and Chess)
• Easy children adapt well to various styles of
  child rearing
• Slow-to-warm-up do best with a moderate amount
  of encouragement coupled with patience
• Difficult children need consistent, patient,
  and objective parents who can handle their
  instability

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Family Dynamics cont.

• Gender
• Parents provide different socializing
  environments for boys and for girls, most likely
  due to their own socialization.
• Play activities differ for boys and for girls.
• Presence of a special need
• Special needs and disabilities influence family
  dynamics and parenting styles.
• Reactions vary enormously.

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Family Characteristics

• Family dynamics and parenting styles are
  influenced by
• size (number of siblings)
• configuration (birth order, spacing, gender)
• parents stage of life
• marital quality
• ability to cope with stress

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Size and Configuration

• Both parents and children are affected by the
  number of children in the family.
• The more children there are
• the more family members interact
• the less likely parent-child interactions occur
• The spacing and gender of the siblings influence
  parent-child interactions.
• With each birth comes different temperaments.

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Parents Life Stage, Marital Quality, and Ability
to Cope with Stress

• Parents go through six stages of change
• Image making
• Nurturing
• Authority
• Interpretation
• Interdependence
• Departure
• Stressors outside the family disrupt the
  parent-child relationship.

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Parenting Styles

• Classified by dimensions of
• Acceptance/responsiveness
• (warmth/sensitivity)
• Give affection, provide encouragement,
  sensitive
• Demandingness/control
• (permissiveness/restrictiveness)
• Set rules, monitor compliance

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Microsystem Influences Between Parent and Child

• Attachment is an affectional tie that one person
  forms to another.
• Self-regulation is bringing ones emotions,
  thoughts, and/or behavior under control.
• Prosocial behavior refers to actions that benefit
  another person.
• Competence involves behavior that is socially
  responsible, independent, friendly, cooperative,
  dominant, achievement oriented and purposeful.
• Achievement motivation is to approach challenging
  tasks with confidence of mastery.

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Parenting Styles

• Three dimensions or degrees
• Authoritative (democratic)
• Authoritarian (parent-centered)
• Permissive (child-centered)
• Other dimensions
• Uninvolved (disengaged)

Parents never simply fit into one category,
they are a mixture.
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Attachment

• An outcome of sensitive, responsive caregiving.
• The Strange Situation showed

Secure Secure
Insecure Resistant Avoidant Disorganized/disorient
ed
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H.O.M.E.

• Home Observation for the Measurement of
• the Environment, contained 45 items in 6
• areas
• Emotional and verbal responsiveness
• Avoidance of restriction and punishment
• Organization of the physical and temporal
  environment
• Provision of appropriate play materials
• Parental interaction with the child
• Opportunities for variety in daily stimulation

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Mesosystem Influences Between Parent and Others

• The impact of parental socialization techniques
  is enhanced by supportive links with other
  microsystems, such as the
• School
• Families links to schools via parent education,
  parent-teacher conferences, and parental
  participation in school activities can have
  positive impacts on families.
• Community
• Considered to include social environments outside
  the family context of parenting can be
  supportive to help parents cope with stress.

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Parenting Practices

• Appropriate
• Developmental appropriateness
• Guidance
• Direction
• Demonstration
• Supervision
• Influence
• Discipline
• Punishment
• Correction
• Training

• Inappropriate
• Uninvolved Parenting
• Aloofness
• Distancing
• At Risk
• Child Maltreatment
• Intentional harm
• Endangerment
• Unkindness
• Violence

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Child Maltreatment Abuse and Neglect

• Abuse is maltreatment involving assaults
• physical
• sexual
• psychological
• emotional
• Neglect is maltreatment involving
• abandonment
• lack of supervision or safety
• improper feeding
• inadequate medical/dental care
• inappropriate dress
• uncleanliness

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Correlates and Consequences of Child Maltreatment

• Risk factors include
• ongoing (i.e. parental history of being abused)
• transient (i.e. parents loss of job)
• Resilient factors include
• ongoing (i.e. childs easy temperament)
• transient (i.e. improvement in family finances)

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The Family and Maltreatment

• Some individuals, because they themselves have
  never received
• love, support, guidance
• do not know how to provide them to their own
  children.
• Many abusers have a family history of being
  maltreated.
• They feel
• unworthy, inadequate, unacceptable
• resulting in low self-esteem.

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The Child and Maltreatment

• The physical and psychological characteristics of
  abused children include
• crying
• hyperactivity
• inability to give an acceptable response
• Children who are more difficult than average to
  care for seem to be the victims of maltreatment
• i.e. demanding, whiny, weepy, stubborn,
  resistive, sickly, negative.

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The Community and Maltreatment

• Environmental factors that correlate highly with
  abuse are
• poverty
• unemployment
• social isolation of families
• transient lifestyles
• lack of recognition of childrens rights
• cultural acceptance of corporal punishment
• limited help for families in crises